Monster

"You bastard..."

Upon hearing Mikiya Kokutou's reply, Touko Aozaki rolled her eyes in a very unseemly manner.

Then she casually placed the documents she was holding on the table and leaned back. Judging from her expression, she clearly wasn't going to continue reading.

In response, Mikiya Kokutou had no choice but to take on the task of "reading".

The residents who have moved into Ogawa Apartments are:

The third floor Sonoda, Watanabe, Itsuki, Takemoto, Haibara, and Touenji.

The fourth floor Seya, Mochizuki, Araya, Tsunomiya, Kamiyama, Enjou...

"Mikiya Kokutou..."

This time, it wasn't Touko who interrupted Mikiya Kokutou; it was Touko Aozaki, who had somehow appeared beside Mikiya Kokutou, staring intently at the document in his hand.

"Let me see this list."

After receiving a "do as you please" look from Touko Aozaki, Mikiya Kokutou handed the document in his hand to Shiki.

"Tsk, I knew it wouldn't be easy to find another surname like that."

After glancing at the document, Shi clicked his tongue in bewilderment.

"Touko Aozaki, is there any transportation?"

After returning the documents, Shi turned her gaze to Touko Aozaki.

"There's also a sidecar motorcycle in the warehouse..."

"Understood, I'll head back now."

Before Touko Aozaki could finish speaking, Shiki had already turned and left gracefully, leaving Touko Aozaki and Mikiya Kokutou at the agency staring at each other in bewilderment.

Souren Araya, born into a Tendai esoteric Buddhist monk family, was also a Magecraft lived for 200 years.

Throughout his long life, he had repeatedly attempted to open a passage to the [Root], but failed for various reasons. However, this time—

Under his own scheme, the physical form he desired— Shiki Ryougi —had already entered his workshop and stood before him, lured by the pawns he had sent out...

[Finally... my long-cherished wish... is about to be fulfilled...]

Shi stared at the tall man who had silently appeared within five meters of her, her Mystic Eyes, capable of seeing the death of all things, filled with undisguised astonishment. Everyone before her had, without exception, possessed the line of death. But this man's line was extremely faint.

What surprised Shi even more was that this man felt very familiar to her.

"--I recognize you."

"That's right. It's been two years since we last met like this."

Souren Araya's voice was heavy, as if it were gripping the brain of the person listening.

He slowly reached out and touched his temple. On the side of his head, from his forehead to the left, was a straight scar. It was a deep scar that Ryougi Shiki had carved herself on the last night before she fell into Shiki Ryougi coma.

Even back then, he had already set his sights on Shiki Ryougi. Everything he did was for today, to obtain Shiki Ryougi's body that connected to the "Root".

The phrase "You are --" is used as if facing a formidable enemy.

"Souren Araya is the one who will kill you."

Without even twitching his eyebrows, the Magecraft named Souren Araya asserted.

It was past eight in the morning, and Touko Aozaki, who was sitting in the office waiting for her employees to arrive, was met with a bewildered Mikiya Kokutou instead.

"We can talk later. Now, put this on—"

Before Mikiya Kokutou speak, Touko Aozaki suddenly took a straw ring from her drawer and tossed it to him. "An uninvited guest is coming soon. Just stand in the corner and don't say a word."

Despite having a lot of questions, seeing Touko Aozaki's unhappy expression, Mikiya Kokutou wisely shut his mouth and obediently stood in the corner.

Not long after, footsteps echoed from the stairwell outside the office. Then, a red figure appeared at the office door—

With dark golden hair and azure eyes, his face was so deep it seemed sculpted, exuding an elegant air. Judging from his age, he appeared to be a German in his early twenties. Wearing a red coat, this handsome man, like a figure from a painting, arrived at the office and cheerfully raised his hand.

"Aozaki! Long time no see, how have you been?"

His face was full of a friendly smile. But to Mikiya Kokutou, that smile was overflowing with malice like a venomous snake.

However, Mikiya Kokutou's thoughts alone were clearly not enough to influence the visitors. After passing the virtually unnoticed Mikiya Kokutou, the young man in the red jacket stopped in front of Touko Aozaki's table.

Touko Aozaki, the hostess, remained seated, showing no sign of welcome, and merely cast a cold glance at the young man.

"What brings the next abbot of Cornelius Alba Schuberg Monastery to this remote place?"

"Haha, is that even a question! I came all this way to see you. You took great care of me in London, so as a former classmate, I'm here to offer you some advice. Or perhaps my good intentions have only caused you trouble?"

"If you're going to spout nonsense, you should go back. You just wandered into someone else's workshop; even if you get killed, you can't complain."

"Don't be so irritable."

Upon hearing Touko Aozaki's icy words, Alba momentarily suppressed the murderous intent in his eyes, and his disgusting fake smile reappeared on his face:

"The girl named Ryougi is in that apartment building. Come if you want."

[I will personally send you to "hell" then!]

Chapter 302. Monsters

"Welcome to my hell, the strongest puppeteer— Aozaki Touko!"

Watching the flamboyant performance of the Golden-haired Man in the red coat, Touko Aozaki didn't even flinch, casually tossing her briefcase on the ground.

The box made a "click" sound the moment it touched the ground.

"Your hell? Don't be so sure, Alba!"

Touko Aozaki snorted coldly. She had already asked Mikiya Kokutou to investigate the apartment's overall structure. Therefore, Touko Aozaki was perfectly aware of the truthfulness of Alba's words.

"With your limited abilities, you actually came up with the idea of materializing the Tai Chi symbol? Alright, you're not the one I'm looking for today. Hurry up and summon Araya."

After saying that, Touko Aozaki began to scan her surroundings, completely ignoring Alba in front of her, and instead began to look for a non-existent opponent.

Perhaps angered by Touko Aozaki's dismissive behavior, Alba's expression twisted slightly, and his voice unconsciously rose a few decibels.

"Don't look down on me like that, Aozaki. I don't even consider Araya. Living on my own brain using only the body of a doll is a unique technique of mine. Without my power, this other world wouldn't exist."

"Oh dear, oh dear. So, esteemed Mr. Cornelius Alba, is the purpose of your trip to Japan simply to come here and boast?"

Alba, we're not students anymore; we've all left the association. So save your lackluster research for showing off to your nonexistent disciples!

But Alba just stared at her, his eyes filled with murderous intent, as if he were about to cry.

"You're always like this!"

Alba's voice, laced with genuine hatred, seemed to lower the surrounding temperature by several degrees.

"That's right, you always do this, always giving me such low evaluations—it was me, I was here first, even though I was here first—whether it's studying runes or the reputation of the puppeteer. Even so, your attitude fooled those idiots. Your belittling attitude made them think I was inferior. Think about it carefully! I'm the next abbot of the Schuberg Monastery! I've been studying Magecraft for over forty years, why should I be ranked behind a twenty-something-year-old girl...!"

His hateful words echoed throughout the hall.

However, when faced with this old classmate who had abandoned her and always pretended to be friendly before starting to spread curses, Touko Aozaki just looked at him with a bored expression.

"Knowledge has nothing to do with age, Cornelius. Although you look very young, you only pay attention to your appearance, which is why you can't keep up with your inner self."

Perhaps in Touko Aozaki's eyes, her words were merely a word of advice, but in the other person's eyes, there could be no more provocative insult.

"Ah, I haven't said what the purpose of my trip is yet."

Despite his best efforts to restrain himself, Alba's handsome face still contorted in pain.

"I don't care about Araya's experiments, nor do I have any interest in the Vortex of Root. Pursuing something whose existence is uncertain is utterly meaningless. If you want to touch the realm of God, just pursue the truth; there's no need to trace back to the origin."

After saying that, he took a step back, intending to climb to the second floor, and slowly walked upwards.

"To be honest, it was my own decision to tell you about Shiki Ryougi. Araya even lost his life trying to capture Shiki Ryougi alive. It was a lose-lose situation. So this barrier has become mine."

However, I don't intend to continue that guy's experiment.

Whether it's Shiki Ryougi or Araya, it has nothing to do with me, and nothing to do with you... That's only natural, right...?

With a loud, guttural laugh, Alba ran quickly up the stairs.

"Aozaki, I came to this remote and desolate place to kill you!"

At this moment, the lobby on the first floor was already filled with monsters summoned by Alba.

It has both human and animal forms.

Although the scars on the surface of these "monsters" are constantly being torn open and oozing pus, their skin will reform in the next second. If we had to use a metaphor, it's like a person or beast that is constantly rotting, the kind of thing that would absolutely be disgusting.

Is that all?

Left alone on the first floor, Touko Aozaki glanced at the monsters around her and gave them a disgusted look:

"Is this the only thing you can materialize here?"

Honestly, Alba, you should really switch from Magecraft to film director. With you around, you could save a lot on monster props. But you'd probably only be good at small-scale horror films, right? How about it? This job suits you better than being the director!

Indeed, the scene before us resembles a horror movie. If there's any difference, it's probably that neither the cross nor the slingshot is effective against these "monsters."

However, even though she was surrounded and only a few meters away, Touko Aozaki still had the leisure to put her hand into the inside pocket of her coat.

"Tsk--"

Looking at the empty cigarette pack, Touko Aozaki felt a little deflated and took out the only cigarette from the box. She skillfully lit it, and the aroma of nicotine slightly eased Touko Aozaki dissatisfaction.

As the most skilled puppeteer, she is an artist through and through. She admires interesting things and feels disgusted by uninteresting things, so she has to smoke to relieve her frustration.

The alien that Alba manifested before him was such a boring thing.

"No, it seems you can't be the supervisor anymore. The performance was just too bad. This level of quality won't entertain the current audience. Oh well, if we're talking about being entertaining, we should at least maintain this level."

After saying that, she kicked the bag next to her foot hard with her toe.

"Come out--"

The casual tone contained an authoritative command that brooked no refusal.

In response, the suitcase at Touko Aozaki's feet clicked open. However, the inside of the open lid was empty.

At the same time--

A black object hovered around the Magecraft named Aozaki Touko.

The black object, a typhoon with a body, spun rapidly around the Touko Aozaki as its eye. Its frenzied power emptied the hall in mere seconds. Even the monsters that had been swaggering through the hall vanished without a trace.

At this point, all that remained on the first floor were Touko Aozaki, the suitcase that had been closed again, and the cat sitting in front of her.

"What!" Alba never dreamed that this would be the scene.

The cat was larger than the Touko Aozaki. Its body was entirely black and had no thickness; it was a flat black cat made of shadows.

"What is that?!"

Somewhat flustered, Alba looked down at the cat from the second floor. When their eyes met, the cat actually began to smile, blurring out its mouth and other facial features to represent a smile.

"Am I watching a nightmare?" Alba couldn't help but swallow, and instinctively took a step back.

Touko Aozaki didn't say a word. At that moment, the only sound in the entire hall was a series of chirping sounds coming from somewhere.

"This is completely different from what I heard! Is the rumor that your familiar has been defeated by your sister false?"

Perhaps unable to bear the silence any longer, Alba began to shout.

She simply replied, "Who knows?" and then turned her gaze to the black cat.

"Sorry for making you eat something unpalatable, but things will get much better from here on out. It won't be those energy blocks anymore, but real human flesh, with plenty of spiritual energy stored up. Since he's my classmate, you don't need to worry. I've taught you before, right? You can eat anyone who's an enemy."

As soon as Touko Aozaki finished speaking, the black cat darted out. It seemed to glide across the marble floor, running across the hall toward the stairs... Even so, the cat's paws didn't move; it remained seated, only its eyes fixed on the red-clad Magecraft.

It took less than ten seconds to get from the lobby on the first floor where Touko Aozaki was to the platform on the second floor where Alba was.

However, Alba, who reacted promptly, was, after all, a Magecraft.

"Goaaytheisimpossibletotouchthethinghicharenotvisible. ForgettheisimpossibletoseethethinghicharenotquestionisanseristheflameintheleftdIha. veeverythingintherighthand--